Events and Activities


ASWA is a proud sponsor of the Eastern Winery Exposition. Be sure to visit our booth! Registration opens Nov 6. ASWA members receive 10% discount.

Sipping The Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association’s Top Wines
With The Congressional Wine Caucus

Wine Trails and Wanderlust Mar 23 2024 It’s not often you get to sip local-ish wine at a semi-formal event at the US Capitol, but that’s exactly what I was able to do this past week. The event in question was the annual Jefferson Loving Cup Trophy award ceremony, sponsored by the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association (ASWA) and hosted by the Congressional Wine Caucus. – more –


2024 West Coast Tour Trade Dinner with special guest Marcello Monticelli, Gallo’s Master Winemaker (second from right).

Top row: Wines shown at 2024 Trade Dinner. Hostess Anne Vercelli (center) with Grant Crandall, Margaret Monticelli, Marcello Monticelli, and Dave Barber. More dinner wines. Below: Wine and food pairings.

The Sonoma Wine Library Tasting is an event we look forward to every year during the West Coast Tour. The 2024 tasting was very well attended – see wines which were presented below.

Grant Crandall and Dave Barber are guests on the John Ash–Steve Garner Radio Show, “The Good Food Hour” on KSRO radio January 2024.

Dave Barber (center) and Grant Crandall (right) pour a selection of wines at the 2024 Unified Wine and Grape Symposium. See wines below.

Grant Crandall and Dave Barber present east coast wines at UC Davis. 2024 West Coast Tour.


Dave Barber presents Richard Leahy with ASWA’s 2022 Birchenall Award at the Eastern Winery Expo, Lancaster, PA March 2023. L to R, Dave, Richard and Steve DiFrancesco.
Dave Barber represented ASWA at the Eastern Winery Expo at Lancaster, PA March 2023.
Grant Anne Dave Sonoma Wine Library 2023
Grant Crandall, Anne Vercelli, and Dave Barber at Sonoma County Wine Library. Many thanks to Anne for setting up all our West Coast events 2023!
ksro radio CA trip 2023
Jan 2023: Grant Crandall and Dave Barber are guests on the John Ash–Steve Garner Radio Show, “The Good Food Hour” on KSRO radio. https://www.ksro.com/episode/wine-hour-3/
Sonoma wine class Dave Barber 2023
Dave Barber presents eastern wines at Sonoma County Wine Library Jan 2023. The Wine Library, dedicated in 1989, is one of the most comprehensive collections of wine information in the world. In addition to a collection of 5,000 books—covering both the most recent literature and over 1,000 rare books dating back as far as 1514.
Dave Ziggy Grant 2023 CA trip
Dave Barber and Grant Crandall with Ziggy the Wine Gal, host of Wine Wednesdays on 95.9FM The Krush-KRSH, discovering some great Atlantic Seaboard wines. Jan 2023 West Coast Wine Trip
ASWA Ca trip 2023 dinner
Grant Crandall presides over ASWA’s 2023 Industry Dinner held at the home of Anne Vercelli Jan 31, 2023

Mar 23, 2022 ASWA’s Board Member Steve DiFrancesco was awarded the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award as a surprise to him and our other board members present at the  Eastern Winery Expo

Dave Barber represents ASWA at the Eastern Winery Expo 2022


Dave Barber presents renowned retailer Darrell Corti with a select bottle of East Coast wine during ASWA 2022 CA trip.
Carl Brandhorst meets with wine judges Ken and Chris Cram, Carolle LeMonnier and Dana Henderson during ASWA’s 2022 CA trip.
ASWA President Emeritus Carl Brandhorst reviews East Coast wines with wine judge Rick Fraga during ASWA CA trip 2022.

ASWA Trade Dinner hosted by Anne Vercelli Feb 1, 2020.

February 1, 2020 marked the 14th time that the ASWA has been on the John Ash-Steve Garner Radio Program “The Good Food Hour”. Ten wines were tasted and discussed on this one hour radio program. It’s a fast-moving hour packed with information about East Coast wines. 
Events – Archive

The Shenandoah Valley Wine Trail hosted their first Shenandoah Cup Gala to announce the medalists in the trail’s wine competition. The Gala took place at CrossKeys Vineyards, Mt. Crawford, VA 22841 on Friday, November 15, 2020. The medalists were announced along with the top six wines that make up the ShenCup half case and the top-rated wine that will win the Shenandoah Cup trophy.  All medal winning wines were available for tasting and owners/winemakers will be available to discuss their wines.  Judging was provided by the prestigious Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association.


The Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association in cooperation with the Congressional Wine Caucus presented the gold medal winning wines of the fifteenth annual Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition Thursday, December 12, 2019 at the Rayburn Office Building on Capitol Hill.

Senate and House members of the U.S. Congressional Wine Caucus, other invited Congressional members, Chiefs of Staff, Legislative Assistants concerned with wine industry issues, wine industry representatives and other special guests attended the annual Capitol Hill awards presentation.


The Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association (ASWA) was proud to participate in the third annual BevX Wine and Beverage Expo on February 21-22, 2018.  With attendees from all over the country gathering in our nation’s capital, the cooperative atmosphere of the conference captured the excitement of this dynamic industry in which so many of us work. Winemakers and grape growers, marketers and distributors, writers and winery vendors, and wine associations such as the ASWA — all could be found in one spot this past week.  

BevX provided a tremendous opportunity for the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association to showcase wines on opening day because quite often these wines are not widely tasted outside their state of origin. We provided 60 distinctive award-winning wines from New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Vermont and many other states for executive directors, writers and attendees from as far afield as California, New Mexico and Colorado.  


The Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association (ASWA) participated in the Eastern Winery Exposition’s (EWE) Welcome Wine Reception on March 6, 2018, where ASWA members poured award-winning wines from their signature Competition focusing on the wines from the 17 states of the Atlantic Seaboard. EWE attendees were able to taste wines from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont and many other states. Whereas many winery associations represent an individual state, the ASWA’s focus is to promote and help build the wine industry on the East Coast as a whole. Wineries on the East Coast face different challenges and opportunities climatically and otherwise than their Western counterparts like California, Washington or Oregon. The ASWA thanks Richard Leahy and all the organizers of EWE for allowing us to be part of such a fine event.


The Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association (ASWA) on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017 brought together for a unique event held at the Rugters University Agricultural Extension Building in Bridgeton, NJ featuring some of the best wines from their annual Competition for a special presentation, tasting and discussion of what makes the East Coast a dynamic area for grape growing and winemaking. 

This event provided an opportunity for local grape growers and winemakers, retail and restaurant professionals, wine and food writers and bloggers, local elected officials and other industry affiliates to experience the wines and understand why they taste the way they do in a manner not often brought to this region of the state.  This comparative tasting also included a handful of vendors including a local restaurant which sponsored the food of the evening, Villa Barone, an Ecuadorian chocolate producer providing wine-friendly chocolates – 1892 Chocolate –  and a winery consultant and educator, Stacy Brody, whose company she founded is called “Study & Swirl”. This event was jointly organized by Paul Tonacci – ASWA Board Member, Dan Ward – Extension Agent of Rutgers University, Grant Crandall – President of ASWA, and Tom Cosentino – Executive Director of the Garden State Wine Growers Association (GSWGA).